king faisal ♡ رحمه الله

it definitely has. saudi arabia and the usa had very, very strong relations, mainly oil related, before they (the saudis) were hoaxed by the american government due to their support of israel. soon after, king faisal initiated an oil embargo on the usa, as well as on other countries such as japan, canada, the netherlands, and a few more, also due to their support of israel (during the fourth arab israeli war in 1973).

usa's secretary of state then, henry kissinger, actually warned king faisal that if he did not lift the embargos, then they'd come and bomb saudi oilfields. faisal's response was: "you are the ones who can't live without oil. you know, we come from the desert, and our ancestors lived on dates and milk and we can easily go back and live like that again."

king faisal was, without a doubt, an extraordinary man.

i apologize for the sudden history lesson, but i'm very passionate about arab history, especially anything related to king faisal as to me, he was one of the best leaders of the region.

by nene; 1700864363; Report

that's okay ! I admire your passion for arabic matters & I find it very interesting as someone who enjoys geopolitical discussion. it's important that there are people like you who care about these sorts of things.

I actually had no idea that that had happened between the united states & saudi arabia, but I admire the king's willingness to stand up to the u.s.. I think that many countries who do so are villainised, yet as the western bloc continues to descend into decay I believe people will start realising that there is nothing left for the western world to offer people. I'm not saying that we should return to the medieval era but even normal people are starting to think that the current system of degeneracy & greed isn't working. I am very excited to be part of the west's re-orientation towards god & honour. the united states has enjoyed a long reign of terror & oppression over the rest of the world yet it wails when other countries no longer its aggression.

I especially enjoyed the king's quote. I may not know much about him but I'm certain that he was, indeed, an extraordinary man.

by kitkatanddog; 1700867089; Report

thank you so much, that's so nice of u ^_^ i really enjoy geopolitical discussion as well, feel free to talk to me about whatever!

and you're right, there seems to be a pattern of villainization occurring to those who resist american influence - take cuba for example.

what i think the issue is with the western world is that they assume that their ideas and laws regarding 'freedom' fits all regardless of their cultures and customs. i think its safe to say that one of the reasons why there seems to have reoccurring wars and incidents in the region around me is due to that, and how they fail to accept the fact that we simply don't want to give into ideas that contradict our morals.

'proper' western feminism for instance, doesn't exist here. that's because women in the region have already been given their respectable rights over 1000 years ago through islam (i suggest you look into it! feel free to message me if u have any questions). some government laws have been unfair, yes, but sharia law has always advocated for us. women here simply don't have the same mentality as women of other regions around the world. we seem to still take a lot of honor in our traditional roles while still enjoying our individual jobs, studies and interests. if i'm not mistaken, there's a huge female to male ratio of students in universities here, at least in my country. is that not empowering? it certainly is, and if you look into the root of why we're able to get such education, most of it is due to islam (as i mentioned earlier) and, the invention of such high institution by a tunisian woman.

every culture has their own moral basis to reference during their daily lives, i think that its important to respect one another and not try to entirely indoctrinate(?) other regions with certain beliefs that contradict their own.

also regarding your point about degeneracy and greed - the amount of it is alarming nowadays. i just pray that usury etc etc doesn't entirely penetrate my region through palestine and the current issue. as a matter of fact, a person who's name i can't mention, wrote that certain people (zionists) would want to take over palestine not for the sake of having a country to live in, but for it's geographical significance. think about it, its where Jerusalem is, its surrounded by an abundance of oil producers, its got almost everything, i think. and its crazy how this sort of 'prediction' came from a european man who didn't really have much to do with my region, and that he said this nearly a hundred years ago (in a book published in 1925).

i don't mean to show support for the man who said that (if you're able to decipher his identity), but its just crazy that someone from a century ago is able to recognize this issue - just makes you wonder how long it has been going on, and if it will ever end.

by nene; 1700896780; Report

I had a feeling the discussion would gravitate towards palestinian matters (which is only natural!)! I'll address those in a minute, but I think that would be good to discuss in ims as it's broadening the topic.

I feel overjoyed to know that arabic women have long enjoyed access to education & work while still being able to feel into their connections to femininity & traditional roles if they so wish- I agree with you that it is empowering, & perhaps is one of its purest, highest forms. I have great distaste for the notion that women should be housewives & nothing more, however I also feel that much of our modern misery has originated from the fact that we're oppressing our nature in order to fit into societies that were not designed with us in mind. I'm having some trouble explaining it- you don't have to have children but perhaps some of your unhappiness is rooted in your ignorance of what your body is telling you (such as that on some days you need to relax instead of hustle), for example? would you say that islam has provided women the ability to pursue their own meaning in their lives while still providing them breathing room to follow what their body guides them to do? (feel free to reply in ims)

I agree with what you're saying about the west's narrow view of morality & feminism, especially about how it contributes to regional instability. if we're being honest, the united states in particular uses ideas such as feminism & freedom to excuse its actions in the hunt for as much oil as possible. in my country we are exposed to a lot of different cultures & ideas, & have been raised to be very open-minded towards them, however I do notice an absence of the idea that you don't have to agree with someone's idea of morality to respect them. usually this is in liberal & conservative figures being nothing short of vile towards one another, but this is also prevalent in the general intolerance of the west towards anything that does not fit within its idea of how the world should work. (I believe someone once commented that the only time conservatives & liberals agreed with each other was when they were deciding to invade the middle east following 9/11)

I'm mindful of the fact that this is a public forum, so as I move to the topic of zionism, I'll also move to ims.

by kitkatanddog; 1700904245; Report